Game, Set, Match
by tromana
Summary: She’s the bridge between his past and present and he’s not sure what to think of that. Jane/Lisbon. Written for the Jello-Forever February Challenge. Prompt: Love Songs
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Game, Set, Match  
**Author:** tromana  
**Rating:** T  
**Characters:** Jane/Lisbon, Team  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine.  
**Summary:** She's the bridge between his past and present and he's not sure what to think of that.  
**Spoilers: **Up to 2x10 A Price Above Rubies  
**Notes:** written for the Jello Forever February Challenge. Prompt: Love Songs.

**Game, Set, Match**

_Oh Shirley, oh Deborah, oh Julie, oh Jane  
__I wrote so many songs about you  
__I forget your name (I forget your name)  
__Jennifer, Alison, Philippa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel too  
__I forget your name  
__Jennifer, Alison, Philippa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel too  
__I forget your name…  
__-Song For Whoever, _The Beautiful South

**Part One**

He got lonely on those tours.

So many pleading faces of middle-aged (or older) women, all slowly merging into one. They were like broken records, their sob stories all sounding the same. It was all about the husband cheating, children dying or trying to garner forgiveness from some dead relative. The way they moaned and whined and grabbed at him… All of it sounded like nails down a chalk board to him, but it was what he's grown up doing, all he's ever known. Even if he had the desire to change careers, he wouldn't even have the first clue to know what to move into. The skills he has honed over the years, he didn't know what else they'd be of any use for.

Even the police thing just came about by chance.

The director of the CBI, a Virgil Minelli, had seen one of his shows with his wife and had insisted upon a private meeting. After he'd sufficiently impressed him with his 'skills', the man had asked him to consult on a few of the higher profile case. The Sacto Pedophile, Red John, Jewel Lady and the like. He'd even brought down a couple of them, something which had increased his profile no end. But still, he didn't understand how the agents he worked with on those few occasions grew used to seeing dead bodies time and time again. First time he'd walked up there tentatively, behind the rookie, who was an Asian man and the blond, muscular senior agent. Once he saw the sorry sight of the deceased woman, practically hacked to pieces, he'd nearly puked up the entire contents of his stomach. It was only after he'd managed to control his guts that he could tell them anything of any use.

The grabbing menopausal women and crime scene after crime scene, it all made his skin crawl.

With his wife growing ever distant, partially out of resentment for being stuck at home looking after their little girl and partially because of his success, he needed to find his comfort elsewhere. So regardless of whether he was living out of a suitcase or simply avoiding going home, he indulged his senses with a long line of young, nubile women, all of whom made him feel human again. Besides, who was he, Patrick Jane, to say no to them? They practically threw themselves at him. He couldn't risk damaging their self-confidence when building confidence was pretty much written into his job description. And they were all very beautiful and it wouldn't be gentlemanly to deprive them of his company.

What his wife didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Their names and faces were beginning to blur now, but he distinctly remembered Annalise, Annabel, Anna-something. A blonde, British bombshell, very flexible in more ways than one and as eager to please as a hyperactive golden retriever. That had been a good night. She'd been more than happy to try anything he suggested and when he left her in the hotel room, sated, she was more than a little disappointed when it became clear that there wouldn't be a repeat performance.

Caitlin, from the Deep South too. Loud, a little brash, but unlike dear, sweet Anna, made it perfectly clear that she expected one night and one night only. Probably using him to cheat on that husband she hadn't wanted him to know about. But who was he to judge? It wasn't as if he was an innocent party in their deeds. Far from it, in fact. Besides, they had fun. They both got to try out things that their spouses would never have been willing to dare to do.

His main problem with them, however, was that they all threw themselves at him just as much as the older women. Jessica, Sue, Amy, all of them. So many names that he'd tried to actively forget them by morning. They didn't care as much about his 'psychic' abilities as his clients did, but they still fell for the blond curls, the muscled body and boyish grin instead. Patrick couldn't deny that they were fun, but still, they provided him with little to no challenge. And tonight, in this seedy San Francisco bar, that was just what he wanted.

The woman sitting beside him, sipping at a vodka and coke, was practically telling him her life story. He doesn't even know whether her name is Maria or Mandy and really, he doesn't even care. But like so many women he met on this kind of occasion, he just… attracted her somehow. Instead of absorbing the information readily, he just nodded in all the right places while scouring the bar for his next target.

There.

One of the tables furthest away from him, sipping something that looked like an orange juice but probably had some kind of shot to liven it up.

Cute brown bob. Cute little nose. Pouty lips. Probably a cute ass too, but it was hard to tell as she was sitting down.

But there was something in her eyes that stated she was the hard-to-get type. The one who didn't care for men because they got in the way of her precious career. At least the way she waved away company and stared back into the depths of her glass every so often said as much. Maybe she had been dealt a rough hand in life, but that didn't really matter right now. Maybe she was just having a bad time of it right now.

Whatever. It didn't matter. She was going to be his before the night was through.

Running a hand through his slicked-back curls, he bid Miss Chatty farewell and wove through the crowds, expertly balancing a glass of water and the Malibu and orange he'd just ordered. It had been painfully easy extracting the information required from the bartender and now he could only hope that his conquest would be a challenge, otherwise it really won't be worth his while. As he approached her, she didn't disappoint. Patrick immediately noted the flash of anger which suddenly appeared in her eyes the moment she was aware that he intended to impose his company on her.

"What?" she snapped before he even had a chance to put the drinks on the table. "Is it physically impossible to have a drink in peace and quiet today, or something?"

"Tell me about it," he replied with a wink. "I didn't come here to be told people's life stories."

She arched an eyebrow and Patrick knew that she had noticed his efforts to try and deflect her attention from the fact he was talking to her at all. Promptly ignoring it, he placed the drink down in front of her and took a seat beside her.

"I don't accept drinks from strangers."

"But it's what you're drinking."

"And you could quite easily have spiked it," she retorted derisively, "thanks, but no thanks."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Do I really need to list the reasons?" she questioned, the eyebrow shooting back up for a second time. "I recognize you."

"I'd certainly remember if I'd met _you_ before."

"No, no. From a poster or something," she mused. "Hang on, you're not that godawful psychic fleecing vulnerable people for all they're worth, are you?"

"Well that's phrasing it a little harshly," Patrick sniffed.

"I thought it rather accurate."

"So you know who I am, but what's your name?"

"I might as well be the Queen of Sheba, for all the difference it'll make."

"Funny."

"I try."

"So what is it really?"

"You're the psychic, work it out."

"And if I do?"

"You'll have the pleasure of knowing you're right?" she answered hopefully.

"Well that's hardly fair. There has to be some kind of wager."

"If you're wrong, you'll leave me alone?"

"And if I'm right, you'll accept the drink."

"Fine."

She sat back in her chair, arms folded across her chest, looking forward to finally getting rid of him. A smirk danced across her face as Patrick stared at her appraisingly, seeming to try and work out a name that would suit her. Eventually, her impatience got the better of her and she found herself unfolding her arms and drumming her fingers against the table top, waiting for the irritating blond to give her some sort of a response so she could get on with her evening in peace.

"Teresa," he suddenly blurted out and she stared at him, aghast.

"How did you?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious."

"How so?"

"It helps that you have your badge on the table and it's slightly open," he admitted. "You gave yourself away."

"That's cheating."

"So," he continued while pushing forward the drink, which she accepted irritably. "How long have you been an officer of the law?"

"I thought you didn't care about people's life stories?"

"Have you always been so guarded?"

"Have you always been so nosy?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, are you?"

"No."

With a sigh, she quickly told him the shortened version of her career choices to date. She left out significant details such as thinking she might be just a little in love with her boss, who was getting married in a month and the main reason that she was here at all was because a case was bothering her. Teresa wasn't sure whether or not she believed the man imposing himself on her was a psychic, but she had a feeling that he'd be able to work out certain details that she'd much rather keep private anyway. Patrick lapped it all up and was relieved when she didn't flinch as he placed his palm across her thigh. It was only a matter of time before talking turned to kissing and kissing turned to leaving the bar to find his hotel room. And finding his hotel room lead to the inevitable…

He would have liked to call it to making love, but really, it was anything but. Fast, rough, animalistic. She gave back as good as she got, just as he'd hoped and refused to bend to any of the whims he had. Even when he drove her right to the edge and back again, she maintained as much self-control as physically possible, merely whimpering when it was growing too much. And instead of him leaving her in the middle of the night, as was normal whenever he seduced a pretty young thing, it was her who left, muttering something about work. It was strange, being the one left alone in the hotel bed, having had his bedfellow disappear as quick as lightening. Rather disconcerting, too. It was for the best though, he had a plane to catch soon. A façade to put back in place before he saw his wife and child once more.

Still, it had been a nice break from reality. Rather like a particularly sweet love song. They always came to an end sooner rather than later and even if you stuck it on repeat, it would never be as enjoyable as that first encounter. It was a fun game and he was just relieved that his wife would never find out.

It wasn't until that evening, when he returned home, that he realized how definite it was that she wouldn't.

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone and Patrick never really appreciated that until he saw his family, slaughtered, on the floor of the master bedroom.

After that…

Falling.

Drowning.

Struggling to breathe.

Pointing the finger.

Blaming.

Guilt.

Anger.

Obsessing.

Going insane.

Being sectioned.

Sophie Miller.

Self-harm.

More guilt.

Appearing to recover.

Finding a reason to live.

Revenge.

Reconnecting with a certain Virgil Minelli. His link to Red John. He knew that if he could get back on that case, worm his way back into the CBI, then he would be on his way. As soon as he was there, he could start cultivating his plans. Dreaming of butchering Red John would be less of a dream. More of a reality. Minelli was as easy to manipulate as ever. Of course he'd known more about Red John murdering his family than most and he'd also heard of Patrick's stint in the mental institution.

But that, strangely enough, wasn't enough to stop him from working with the CBI. Apparently, his gifts were enough to negate that.

When Minelli said the senior agent he'd be working underneath was on their way upstairs to meet him, he never expected _her_ to be the next person to walk in the room. Sure, she'd changed a little, blossomed into a confident professional rather than hiding underneath the mask of sarcasm as she had been before. Probably hadn't quite shaken the sarcasm habit yet, though…

Teresa dropped her bottle of water in surprise and it rolled away underneath Minelli's desk.

"You?"

"You."

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **So, this uses a prompt from Penelope Louise: "you're a real jerk, you know that?" I've manipulated the phrasing to something a little more sardonic, but the intention is still the same.

This is also heavily based on the Pilot. Future chapters will also be based on other episodes. I'll outline which ones in the author's notes. I have made a couple of definite decisions, but I may choose to add a couple more depending on my mood and how ambitious I wish to be.

Thanks to: mwalter1, Viktorija, Divinia Serit, mtm, lisbon69, yaba, Iloveplotbunnies, raquelvalente91, Frogster, Chiisana Minako, Bezelburr, HOUSEMDFanForever, blondieland, willabee, Charmed225, Simonisthecuttestmentalist, Jadestar1981 and WildDaisies10 for reviewing part one. I'm completely astounded by the support already! Thank you!

x tromana

* * *

_What is this feeling?  
Fervid as a flame  
Does it have a name?  
Yes. Loathing.  
Unadulterated loathing._  
_-What Is This Feeling?, _Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked)

**Part Two**

"There's ground rules."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

She rolled her eyes as he followed her straight into her office like a hopeful puppy dog. Last time she'd seen him, it was a week before she had gotten that call from Minelli which she had been nervously waiting for and effectively, gotten that big break she'd been dreaming about. Thinking straight hadn't even come into it; she'd needed a distraction and he'd provided her with an interesting one to say the least. Until she had seen him again approximately half an hour ago, she had virtually forgotten about the whole night. It wasn't that she'd been drunk that night, far from it in fact, it was more of a case of her not needing to keep track of every single romantic encounter she's ever had. To be fair, she was entirely surprised to see him at CBI headquarters at all. After what happened to his family, it was a miracle that he had even remained sane.

"You call me Lisbon."

"Yes ma'am."

His tone was condescending and if she hadn't been expecting it, Lisbon would have muttered under her breath. But ever since they had been 'reunited' a whole half hour ago, Jane had been treating the whole situation like it was a game, like she was a willing participant in whatever trick he was up to. With a sigh, she picked up some papers and began to flick through them while considering just what she needed to say to the egotistical jackass who had just been foisted upon her with next to no warning from those above.

"No funny busy. No hypnotism, no subterfuge, no running into a crime scene unaccompanied. Any ideas, you inform one of my agents or myself immediately," she snapped, having a feeling that it was simply going in one ear and straight out of the other. "You are _not_ a state agent, you are merely a consultant. Remember that."

"Still bossy, I see."

"And no mentioning that… incident."

"Why? Scared it'll tarnish your squeaky clean record?"

"I'm not…" she sighed, already exasperated and out of reflex, pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's irrelevant. There's no need to shout it from the rooftops."

"You _are _worried," he announced, triumphant. "And you have a tension headache because of it."

"No."

"And you still insist upon lying."

"Come with me."

Lisbon was getting fed up with his incessant messing around and Jane immediately knew that she was hoping to foist him off on the rest of her relatively small team. Instead, he just reclined in his chair and smiled brightly at her.

"Jane."

Silence.

"Jane!"

"What? Are you talking to _me_?"

"Well who else would I be talking to?"

"But my name's Patrick," Jane answered, enjoying seeing the rise he was getting out of her by acting particularly dense.

"We use surnames here. It's more formal, more professional Get used to it."

Eventually, for she was the one with a gun on her hip and a taser near the small of her back, Jane gave in. Besides, it would be fun trying to work out what made the other two members of the team tick. Both of them seemed like decent, straight-forward men and it would give Lisbon, his new 'boss', a break before she actually tried to kill him.

***

The first month was tentative to say the least. Jane was thoroughly pleased with the rapport he'd built with Rigsby and especially, Cho. His initial appraisals of both of them seemed to be accurate and they seemed to have an understanding. The problem, naturally, came with Lisbon. At times, she seemed to offer an olive branch and that she actually cared about him, but the next moment, she snapped and pushed him away again. Like she didn't want to show any affection for him and didn't want to let herself get hurt. Which was entirely fair, because he knew that he simply exuded risk. Acting as if she hated him was a little bit of an overreaction though, especially as she made it blatantly obvious that she didn't.

"Jane!"

"Uh, loud noise, what was that?" Jane opened an eye and saw Lisbon glaring back down at him. "Oh, hey Lisbon."

"I know you weren't sleeping, so cut the crap."

"Gee, aren't we in a lovely mood this morning?"

"I'll take that as you don't want to come have a look at a new case with me then…"

"Oh, no. I'd love to."

"Good, because the locals think they've closed it and are looking to arrest some kid, but the A.G. still wants your 'insight'. Though, goodness knows why."

The journey to Los Angeles was tense. Lisbon was never particularly keen on the long drives, but rarely relinquished driving duties. Even if she were feeling inclined to do so on this occasion, she wouldn't because there was absolutely no way she was trusting Jane behind the wheel of a car. Even though the consultant managed to irritate her throughout the entire journey, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the debacle that unfolded when they had arrived. Arresting the Tolliver woman because she'd literally just killed her husband had been relatively hard, but it was something she'd needed to do. The woman had tried to throw herself into oncoming traffic first, but Lisbon had managed to catch up with her just in time. The second piece of relief came soon after, when forensics discovered the daughter's diary, letting the teenager off the hook and framing her father.

It didn't stop the fact that she needed to inform Jane of his suspension, that would be effective immediately. Part of her was relieved, a reprieve from the reckless blond was something that she was already craving even after working with him for such a short period of time. She was also secretly hoping that it would be enough for Minelli to remove him from her team entirely, what with her wanting to focus her energies on the new rookie due to start imminently and not wanting to be distracted with Jane's version of crazy.

"You're hoping that this'll be enough to get me out of your hair."

"What? No I wasn't."

She kept her eyes trained on the road and quickly turned on the headlights. It was beginning to get dark.

"Sure you weren't. You've been torn between smiling slightly and stubbornly frowning for the past two hours."

"Well, it has got you out of my hair. For at least three weeks," Lisbon remarked lightly, pleased that she had an excuse not to face Jane. "You're on suspension."

"What? Was it the sandwich that was the problem? Did you want one too?"

"No! You get a suspect, a man, killed and because of your poking and prodding, a woman is now facing life…"

"A guilty man is dead. Case closed. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Closed cases, yes. Unnecessary deaths, no. Didn't you listen to anything I told you?"

"Obviously not, Teresa."

"Lisbon."

"But Teresa suits you so much better."

She made a noise which sounded like something between a sigh, growl and grunt. Jane was rather impressed, he hadn't heard quite a noise before.

"If you don't get your act together, I swear I'll get you kicked out of my team or preferably, the entire CBI before you can say 'fake psychic'."

***

Her heart sank when she saw Jane get out of the taxi at Palm Springs. It was easy to work out who the culprit was. The rookie, Van Pelt, hadn't even met him yet, so she was perfectly innocent and she knew that Rigsby, despite his appearances was still more than a little terrified of her sharp tongue. Cho, however, had joined the CBI at a similar time to herself and while they both had a great respect for one another, she knew he had bonded almost _too_ well with Jane. She was a little disappointed with him, but could see why he'd called him; Jane's personal connection to the Red John case was well-known. His family had died rather close to their first encounter, something she tried her hardest not to think about.

His ideas of redemption were typically Jane-like. In other words, absolutely non-existent. He taunted everyone who he came across in order to manipulate them into giving into his whims. Lisbon, however, was determined to remain stubbornly in control of her emotions and ensure that he stuck as rigidly to the rules as feasibly possible. For some reason, she was certain that he was going to undermine her from the offset. Like her breaking down her resolve to keep him out of the case and the team meal. She would have been perfectly content eating on her own, but she was about ninety-five percent certain that he manipulated Van Pelt into requesting one. Team meals were never a good idea. Never, ever. As far as Lisbon was concerned, they absolutely always ended in disaster. But Van Pelt was new and eager and desperate to 'get to know' the rest of her team. Denying her request would have been something akin to kicking a puppy, so eventually Lisbon had found herself relenting and agreeing to the whole charade. She'd have been fine with this if it hadn't been for the addition of Jane. She just knew that he was going to cause trouble one way or another. He'd either pick a fight with one of the younger agents or she could just see him announcing to the others about their encounter despite the fact she had made it very clear that he wasn't to mention it.

It had started perfectly civilly, her at the head of the table. That was her way of separating herself from the rest of the team, making the division between herself as boss and the rest of them, as her subordinates, known. It was petty, but she was relieved by the way everyone sat naturally. Cho, having known her longest, to her immediate right and Van Pelt, especially eager to please after the mistake with the luggage, to her left. The inevitable argument regarding faith reared its ugly head and with her unusual position regarding the subject, she kept out of it. It was only when Jane went and mentioned Rigsby's immediate affection for the red head that she grew annoyed. It didn't help that he kept shooting flirty grins down the table at her, almost daring the other people present to accuse _him_ of having some kind of affection for _her_. So, when they arrived back at their hotel and walked to their rooms together, it was only natural that she snapped yet again.

"Do you want me to tell the others, or something?" Jane growled in response. "You're the one who keeps bringing it up!"

"Were you born a jerk or is it a skill you've developed since?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Exasperatedly, Lisbon simply slammed the hotel room door in Jane's face and stormed towards the double bed, flopping onto it in a boneless heap. In a mere twenty four hours, he'd already managed to wind up the locals, embarrass Rigsby and Van Pelt beyond belief and completely set her nerves on edge. All the work she'd done on regaining her composure over the past fortnight had been completely thrown out of the window. Eventually, she pulled herself back up to a sitting position, grabbed her case and started rifling through the files. Why the hell didn't this fit the pattern? She felt strangely reassured by the concept of it being a copycat though. It made the murderer seem more tangible than if the elusive Red John had been responsible. Though it didn't change the fact that people had died, it made her feel like she was more likely to bring about justice for them.

A fire alarm broke her from her reverie and along with the entirety of the wing, she found herself evacuated from the building. She was furious to find out that Jane was essentially responsible for two hours of shivering and shaking outside while the fire department checked that the building was clear. Despite the fact it was blatantly obvious that it was just Jane and whoever he was chasing were responsible for the disturbance, they insisted on going about the procedure. It wasn't until she found out that it was supposedly Red John taunting him in a letter, that she actually felt sorry for him. And not just a fleeting feeling, proper down to the gut sorrow and an overwhelming desire to wrap him in cotton wool to try to stop the world from hurting him anymore. It was entirely inappropriate for her to comfort him too much, so all she could bring herself to do was practically demand he sleep. He needed it, desperately.

Come morning, she was unsurprised to walk into their makeshift office to be greeted with the sight of him looking horribly unkempt, slightly disorientated, with puffy eyes and a caffeine-filled soft drink in hand. Really, the man had to learn how to look after himself better. That was the breaking point; acting almost autonomously, she found herself dialing the number for Dr. Wagner and booking him an appointment. If she was going to be forced to work with him, she at least wanted him to be well and able to operate as something that at least resembled a human being.

***

Jane was surprised that she fell so easily for each and every ploy he'd led her into. He'd expected at least some sort of resistance, especially with her desire to keep him at arm's length, but maybe she was so focused on the case that she just couldn't see through his virtually transparent plans. Still, at least he knew that Rigsby would have his back. He would have asked Cho, but Jane had a feeling that he was pushing his luck where the Asian agent was concerned.

Doctor Wagner reacted exactly as he expected him to. It made Jane's blood boil to think that he was sitting opposite a man, no a murderer, one who was more than happy to taunt him and his desolation and be judged for the fact that he couldn't sleep. Still, it served his purpose. It got him into the clinic, got him the pass card and it planted the idea of the diary into Wagner's head. As he waited patiently for Wagner to do enough damage looking for the 'diary', his thought quickly drifted off to five years ago, as it had so many times before. Had Red John known about his brief affair with Teres- Lisbon? Was she the beautiful magician's assistant that had been Jane's distraction while Red John could work his 'magic' and slaughter the family that he never appreciated and now misses as much as an amputated limb?

Dispelling thoughts of the senior agent, he strolled back into the clinic. He still has work to do. Besides, taunting Wagner was so much and he knew that he wouldn't really be in any danger. Rigsby was due at the building almost imminently and once he'd made the arrest, the others would be hot on his heels. Even when the psycho drew the gun on him, he wasn't scared, not really. After all, the doctor was dense enough to set himself up with a series of blatantly obvious clues that the team would have worked out eventually, he had just sped the process up a little.

***

Lisbon was angry, no, furious, when she realized that he'd tricked her into booking that damn appointment on his behalf. It was obviously his way of getting around the rules she'd explicitly set up. She'd told him to never do investigative work on his own, that if he had any ideas to speak to somebody, not just go blundering in and hope for the best. Wagner could have got off or worse, Jane could have got himself killed. But then again, she was seriously beginning to think that he had a death wish.

The team were jovial with him as he offered donuts and discussed the case in a light-hearted manner with him. Instead, she chose to focus on her work, hoping to get all the appropriate forms done before their flight back to Sacramento. It also provided her with an ideal excuse to ignore him. Until he apologized and placed that damn frog on her desk. Of course it was going to catch her off guard, it would catch anybody off guard.

Rather like Jane himself. For whatever she told herself, however annoyed she was with him, he _did _close the case. And there had to be a reason for her sleeping with him all those years ago.

Didn't there?

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So, originally part three was meant to be the entirety of Red Badge, but it's spiralling out of control, so I've decided to split it into two. So this is **Red Badge Part One** and I'll have Part Two coming up asap. And for continuity's sake, I'm using lyrics from the same song for both parts.

Thank you to twin for having a quick read through and stopping me from panicking about it and also to: mtm, WildDaisies10, Divinia Serit, Iloveplotbunnies, blondieland, yaba, lisbon69, mwalter1, HOUSEMDFanForever, Famous4it, Simonisthecuttestmentalist, Penelope Louise, Viktorija, Country2776, Ebony10, Frogster, Charmed225, PhoenixWytch and boutondor for reviewing part two. You guys rock and I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

x tromana

* * *

_It's easier said than done to make a life for yourself  
__One minute you're fine then you turn around  
__The world's gone off with someone else  
__And if it seems that way, I guess it is that way  
__But there's no need to be alone  
__You can always ask, you can always call  
__I'll want nothing in return  
__-Count On Me, _Oliver Tompsett and Ashleigh Gray

**Part Three **

Lisbon wanted to trust him, really she did. But how can you trust somebody who gives with one hand only to take with the other straight away? As far as she was concerned, however much Jane implied that his family's deaths had changed him, that he was at least trying to be a better man now, she just found it impossible to believe. The past fourteen months or so had been intriguing to say the least. There was one thing she couldn't deny and that was that Jane certainly made work that little more light-hearted, that little more fun. Well, most of the time anyway. Unless he had been temporarily blinded and was being even more of a pain than usual. Or they'd just had a run in with Red John and that slightly terrifying fervor had taken hold once more. But generally, she'd begun to relax around him and she was slightly less paranoid that he would start blackmailing her with regards to their thing. Only slightly, mind, because it was Patrick Jane and frankly, she thought that absolutely nothing was below him provided he could get what he wanted from it.

And just a couple of months ago, he'd saved her life.

They'd lost the Red John case too, to Bosco.

But still. He'd sacrificed his only link to the notorious murderer to save _her_. The woman who he slept with the night his wife died.

Dr. Roy Carmen looked at her with a slightly bemused expression. It felt like the damn man had been trying to get her to talk about something, anything for weeks now. And he has the audacity to wonder why she'd prefer to keep a few things secret. Lisbon was beginning to think she'd run out of excuses now. There was only so many times you can turn up late for an appointment, rely on another agent to pull her out of it for some crucial detail pertaining to a case or feign a migraine. Pulling a face, she sipped on the coffee. There was something off about it; it always seemed to taste wrong in his office but she couldn't figure out why. She was almost relieved when her cell phone went off, giving her an immediate escape route, but the knowledge that she'd be trapped in there with him again some time soon didn't really help.

As they traveled the brief twenty minutes to the crime scene, she could practically feel Jane's eyes boring into her. She clenched onto the steering wheel slightly more tightly; today was turning out to be one of those days when she could really do without his style of aggravation. It didn't help that she was still having to field off complaints about him due to suits who had taken offense or that her brothers were hinting that she should go and visit them and the happy little families they now had. Families which she wasn't jealous of, definitely not, or so she kept telling herself anyway. Really all she wanted to do was get the day over and done with so she could go home and have a long, hot shower to relax. Shrink day always lead to her feeling more tense than usual and that in turn always lead to Jane probing.

The moment she saw William McTeer's body, she decided that life was just out to get her. Somebody or something seemed to think that it was about time to drag all the old skeletons out of the closet and remind her of times she'd much rather forget. Still, she had a job to do and the sooner they could get this one over and done with, the better. At least, having now worked with the blond for a significant amount of time, she was prepared for his psychoanalysis. Lisbon knew there was little point in lying about her connection to the McTeer case, Jane just wouldn't let go, so kept her explanations as brief as possible before deflecting conversation and hoping to hurry back to the CBI headquarters. But still, it seemed like everyone she was working with right now could find some kind of leverage to use against her and that was overwhelmingly disconcerting.

***

Lisbon was tense and that worried Jane. Normally, she could carry the stresses of her job and lifestyle so well that you barely noticed that she was dealing with one problem or another, but it had been growing more and more noticeable of late. He knew she was notorious for bottling up her memories and that was always a dangerous habit but that wasn't something he could change immediately. What he could do was help her relax a little by playing games, especially as she had been slowly becoming more receptive to his trickery lately. Persuading her to join in with his charade had been easy enough, though she was of course rather desperate to get moving with the task in hand. He even managed to sneak in a question about Bosco and she barely flinched. Baby steps, that was all it would take to bring down the stubborn little woman's resolve. And plenty of perseverance of course. One day, she might actually let him help her properly instead of pushing him back again. Regardless of what she thought, he actually quite liked her despite the fact that she was the bridge between his past and present and he really didn't know how to react to that. Not many individuals knew him both before and after; she was in an enlightened position. Maybe that was what drove him to try and help her out with her general well-being?

That and he knew that she'd always had to fend for herself in the past and really, that just wasn't fair on her.

It was nice seeing her slightly more calm as she dismissed the importance of the McTeer case to her career to the others and Jane felt a hint of pride run through his veins. But it wasn't until Bosco appeared, obviously intrigued by the fact that history seemed to be repeating itself, that he realized that there was a twinge of jealousy too. The senior agent looked at Lisbon, his Lisbon, with a softened expression which he didn't seem to bother using with anybody else and she obviously responded well to it. Bosco had only joined the CBI relatively recently, specifically to head up the unit on the Red John case and it was clear that the pair had missed having one another in their lives. Part of him wished that Lisbon could think the same about himself, but he knew that she rather resented their history.

It was almost a relief when everyone went their separate ways to actually get on with the case, even if he'd have rather been accompanying Lisbon to the live-in girlfriend's home rather than Van Pelt.

***

A very bad day just got incredibly worse when Rigsby told her the news. How the hell could the prints have gotten onto that gun? Lisbon had never even seen it before. What horrified her was the way Minelli looked at her as if she was not only guilty, but had already been convicted. And then Bosco just had to ask about Tuesday night and whatever she tried, she just couldn't put her finger on what she'd been doing that night. It was strange, but she knew she could hardly tell them the truth as it would immediately make her position ten times worse. As she did so, she had a feeling that she was just spinning a web of lies, something which could come crashing down around her at any second, though she was somewhat comforted when Jane supported her alibi.

She sat in her office, taking several deep breaths and tried to avoid thinking about the stinging sensation developing in the back of her eyes. As her cell phone rang out cheerfully, she paused before pulling it out, glancing in the direction of the door. She'd expected Jane to come barging into her safe haven by now. With a slight shrug, she looked at the screen and rolled her eyes slightly when she saw it was the blond who was calling. Eventually, she answered and pressed the phone against her ear firmly, not really wanting to go through this conversation.

"What do you want?"

"Well, that's just charming," Jane answered smoothly. "Coffee. That's all."

"I'm busy."

"You're always busy."

"Exactly. I don't have time for this."

"Oh come on," he whined and she found herself cringing at his pitiful tone. "I won't mention the fact that I know you're skipping lunch again."

"No."

"Goddammit, why won't you just let me help you, woman?" he seethed and Lisbon could almost imagine the expression his face had taken. "You're so paranoid that I'll undermine you that you won't even give me a chance."

"And that's meant to persuade me to meet you, how?"

"Do you want to clear your name?"

"What's that got to do with coffee?"

"Meet me and find out."

Lisbon's shoulders slumped slightly in defeat and it took her a few seconds to remember that he couldn't actually see her and therefore, didn't know that he'd persuaded her to go along with him. Eventually she muttered a quiet 'fine' and he informed her that it would be best if they met in their usual place. Irritably, she placed her phone down and stared at her computer screen. For some reason, she was struggling to concentrate and still, rather embarrassingly, on the verge of tears. Grumbling, she pulled a tissue out from her box. She didn't want to humiliate herself in front of anyone who could walk through her door at any given time.

***

As she clicked off rather abruptly, Jane stared at the phone, somewhat confused. Shaking his head, he headed towards the café where he'd organized to meet the rest of the team. He knew that Lisbon was fairly certain of her own innocence, despite the fact she was definitely hiding something, but he wasn't quite so sure. People could do strange things when pushed and Lisbon was no exception. Her job _had_ been particularly stressful of late (and he knew that he was partially to blame for that) and then there was the whole psychologist business. Though he didn't think she turned to alcohol or something along those lines for relief, he couldn't entirely rule it. She was a very private person, after all and though it would be quite a feat, it was plausible that she was hiding some kind of addiction away from him.

He was actually rather shocked that Rigsby was sceptical of her innocence too, though Cho's position didn't come as a surprise. The Asian agent was loyal to a fault and he would walk to the ends of the earth to get Lisbon off the hook, if entirely necessary. But finding out their opinions on the subject matter hadn't been his intention. What he wanted was to persuade them to keep working the case, for Lisbon's sake. Nobody would work it as hard as they would and they wouldn't be happy without answers. Jane had seen it as his duty to convince them - she had done a lot for him since he joined the CBI and her team. She'd also brought back a lot of old memories of what he was like back in the day, but that was beside the point. If anything, it was a good thing. It reminded him of just how much of a bastard he was before… and that kept him focused on the task in hand. Though, it didn't necessarily help with his fluctuating emotions for the dark haired little spitfire. Those were something he'd have to keep an eye on, to make sure that they stayed in check.

Lisbon glowered at him from the moment she spotted him from the table she had selected. Nervously, she passed the polystyrene cup from hand to hand, periodically sipping on the coffee to try and disguise flickers of emotion as they discussed her so-called alibi. He'd known she'd lied about it from the moment she'd started talking, hell, even Bosco and Minelli seemed to know. The only person she was really convincing was herself. It was when her voice cracked ever so slightly as she eventually admitted to said lie that his heart broke. She really did seem to think she was alone in all this and he hated that. She deserved someone who cared about her, who needed her and who was she stuck with? Someone she barely trusted because she was terrified about leverage. But considering his attitude back then and his attitude now, Jane knew that he didn't want to ever use it against her because she didn't deserve it. She hadn't known who or what she was getting involved with that fateful night and it was entirely his fault. The only problem was trying to convince her of that and that the hypnotism would be a good idea, if only to put her frazzled mind at ease.

With narrowed eyes, he watched as she stormed away. At least the idea was planted in her head now. Hopefully she would come back later.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Quick update because I felt really uncomfortable leaving the story part way through the Red Badge section. Yes, I'm weird and compulsive like that. Hopefully now, I'll be able to focus on either Pretty Lies or Unbound because I know I really need to update both of them.

Anyway, thanks to: Iloveplotbunnies, mtm, lisbon69, yaba, mwalter1, Divinia Serit, Charmed225, Viktorija, HOUSEMDFanForever and Simonisthecuttestmentalist for reviewing part three.

x tromana

* * *

_So I'll be here always, whenever you need me  
If you need a friend, I'll be there  
Someone to rely on, someone who cares  
__You can always believe in me  
Someone who will catch you when you fall  
Somebody behind you through it all  
__You can always depend on me  
You can always count on, you can always count, you can always count on me  
__-Count On Me, _Oliver Tompsett and Ashleigh Gray

**Part Four**

Lisbon knew it was a stupid idea agreeing to the poly the moment she entered the room with the dratted machine. But she also knew that there was absolutely no way she could back out without her actions incriminating her any further. Jane had tried his hardest to calm her down, remind her that she would be fine and all she needed to do was answer the questions to the best of her ability beforehand, but if anything, that had made her feel worse. As the machine flashed into her action, her eyes were instinctively drawn to it. It was measuring her autonomous reaction and if only she could somehow try and bring them under control, then she might just have a chance of getting through the polygraph unscathed.

It took her a little while to get her thoughts back on track, but by the time she was ready to give evidence against Howard, the deputy A.G. standing beside her, she had almost forgotten about it. Only almost, because it was a little hard to have it completely off your mind when you're being accused of doing exactly what you set out to prevent. Howard stared at her with big, watery eyes, obviously hoping to appeal to her sensitive side. She would show him compassion if he'd finally admit to the crimes he'd committed. All the evidence pointed towards him and he was only making it more difficult on himself by pleading not guilty. So, when she spotted Minelli approaching them, her thoughts couldn't have been much further away from that disastrous polygraph and it was only natural that her concerns were immediately for her team and Jane. As her boss' next words fell out of his mouth, she felt the cold dread envelop her once more and found herself doing what Howard had been doing to her seconds earlier. She had to play to his better nature because surely he couldn't think she was guilty, could he? Whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

But was Minelli right? Was anyone going to actually stick up for her instead of trying to tear her down? Or was she just in as much denial about her innocence as Howard was about his?

After the rather traumatic experience of handing over her badge and gun (ever since she had been first handed them, she'd never imagined life without them), she wandered aimlessly throughout the building. Somehow, she eventually ended up in Employee Support Services and in front of Roy Carmen's office. Tentatively, she knocked on the door and she wasn't sure how to feel when he eventually let her in. It felt strangely relieving pouring out her (selected) feelings to the psychologist, but still, he infuriated her. All she wanted was a couple of answers from him and instead, he was trying to persuade her to manipulate technology. His perseverance was odd and she couldn't help but feel that element of distrust again. Angrily, she made him know just how useless she thought he was and slammed the door as she left the room. As she stormed away from Carmen's office, she made her decision. It was time to stop being so set in her ways and accept that maybe, just maybe, Jane's hypnotism skills could be useful. Lisbon choked back a sob when she spotted him, still in a state of disbelief that it had actually come to this. It was strange, the CBI was the one place where she had always felt most comfortable and now, she was now technically unwelcome there. What made her feel all the worse was the concept that she might _never_ be welcome back and that she was now having to place her trust in Jane's hand in order to try and salvage her career and her life.

***

Under any other circumstances, Jane would have been thrilled if Lisbon had taken him home with her. Still, as he walked through the door, he reacted exactly how she expected him to, if only to try and keep some level of normalcy to this bizarre situation. It was interesting though, seeing another little snapshot of the woman behind the badge - something he hadn't really had the honor of seeing for a good few years now. Certainly not since they had been reacquainted and everything he's learned about her since, he has had to work hard to find out. He'd been observing her particularly studiously of late; she'd been more sluggish lately, more worn down, something which hinted at side-effects from prescription tablets. An overdose could explain the blackout, but he couldn't be sure. And that was why he had decided to attempt to induce the trance without her actually realizing it. He certainly didn't want her having an abreaction and it leading to her being more stressed than beforehand.

She fell into the trance surprisingly easily, but then again the whole sorry situation had lead to her being far more vulnerable than usual and therefore, that probably had made her more suggestible. When she had stopped dozing on his shoulder, he slowly maneuvered her to the beige chair and sat in front of her on the footstall. As she answered his questions, he began to breathe slightly easier until she could see nothing and started panicking. Immediately, he pressed his hand against her forehead and allowed his fingers to (rather guiltily) graze against her inner thigh.

Still, despite the fact he finally knew why she hadn't responded, she didn't give him time to actually tell her. Lisbon looked so fragile, so broken, that when she begged to be left alone, Jane found that he just had to comply with her wishes. Instead of going far, he simply sat outside in his car, formulating plans while absentmindedly flipping a quarter. He was fairly certain Lisbon wasn't taking any prescriptions that were likely to give her side effects; she would never stand for such a thing as it would distract her from the focus on her career. And the only person, excepting himself, who fixed her drinks on a regular basis was that psychologist, the one whose appointments he'd wormed out of as soon as feasibly possible. What would be his reason for setting up Lisbon though, why would he want to kill McTeer? For the first time in a long while, Jane regretted not seeing the doctor. If he'd stuck at it for long enough, then maybe he'd know silly little things like his motive for framing Lisbon for a crime she obviously didn't commit. He dropped the quarter when his cell phone buzzed at him.

"Cho, what have you got?"

"Dog."

"What about him?"

"Our murderer charged $10,000 to just drag McTeer to the alley. Van Pelt and Rigsby are trying to unscramble the money trail."

"Good," Jane paused. There was a reason he didn't usually tell the team his immediate hunches, mainly because he didn't like to appear wrong in front of them. This was a different case for all of them though, so instead, he continued. "I think Carmen is the one who is trying to frame Lisbon."

"I'll check his cell phone records and see if he links in somehow."

"Meh, check his office for drugs. You're looking for diazepam, flurazepam or maybe lorazepam."

"Right," Cho responded with no need to question Jane and his hunches but paused slightly, tentative about his next question. "How's Lisbon?"

"She'll be fine," he answered dismissively. "Listen, I have a plan. This'll only work if Carmen's guilty, of course. _Don't_ tell anyone else, but…"

***

"And what if he's not?" her voice quavered as she gripped hold of the seatbelt. "What then, Jane? Everyone will think…"

"When were you due to see Carmen again?"

"Today, why?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired… but what has that got to do with anything? I'm _stressed_ Jane, it's what happens when people are stressed."

Ignoring her plaintive statements, Jane continued questioning her as he started his car. They had to hurry up and get to CBI before the psychiatrist left for the day, preferably.

"You saw him Tuesday too, didn't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"He's been drugging you and that's what's causing the blackouts," he answered and turned to face her before driving off. "You're not a murderer, Lisbon."

"How do you know that? You weren't with me Tuesday night."

"No, I wasn't, but Cho called me three minutes ago to say that they found lorazepam in Dr. Carmen's desk at CBI."

"What?"

"Lorazepam," he repeated as if speaking to a small child. "It's what's been making you drowsy. It what caused the memory loss."

"Even under hypnosis?"

"Even under hypnosis," he confirmed. "So are you with me?"

She nodded slightly before speaking. "Jane?"

"Yes, Lisbon?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you deserve it."

"Oh."

Lisbon shrank back into the car seat, genuinely concerned about Jane's plan and simply pulling it off. Of course she'd worked undercover before, but on this occasion, it wasn't a stranger she had to persuade she was going insane, it was her work colleagues. People who she had spent years gaining the trust and respect from. And now? She was going to be undoing all that hard work in attempt to clear her name simply on a Jane hunch. Even if she did manage to prove her innocence, the damage done could be irreparable. The mere thought of life without her career shook her, but in reality she was struggling to think of what else she had. No social life to speak of, just a smattering of dates and one night stands over the years, a family who resented her (and especially, her dedication to the career that was slipping through her fingers) and that was about it. While waiting at a red light, Jane turned to face her with a softened gaze and encouraging smile.

"You'll be fine, Lisbon."

She felt terrified and hoped that Jane knew how concerned she was. But once she was in CBI headquarters, pretending to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, she came into her own, because she needed to. Lisbon felt a little guilty; poor, terrified Van Pelt who genuinely appeared to believe that the boss she admired so much was losing it and there was nothing she could do to console the red head. After she threw the chair through the window, an action which was strangely liberating, she was visibly shaking. It was a relief when Jane and Cho both wrapped their arms around her and led her outside.

While Cho drove her back to her apartment in silence, she kept apologizing profusely for scaring him. Jane was staying behind, needing to help push Minelli in the right direction, to get him to send Carmen over later and Lisbon knew that, but she didn't know that Cho had been informed of their intentions. It had surprised her that Jane had communicated with anyone else on the team; normally it was a case of him telling only those who he thought needed to know. She thanked him profusely when he dropped her off at her home, but knew she still had work to do. They were only part of the way through Jane's plan, after all.

***

It was easy to manipulate Minelli into sending Carmen over to check that Lisbon wasn't going to do anything stupid. Jane was concerned for her, just in a very different way from how the director was. If this wasn't successful, Jane knew that he'd made her position all the worse and she'd never forgive him for that. After all, it had taken the breakdown of her confidence to make her willing to trust him properly for the first time at all. He couldn't really blame her for not trusting him though. Jane knew that he was dangerous, what with his interest in Red John, reckless with his plans and of course, she always thought he was on the verge of humiliating her just to get his own way. Everyone knew that he wasn't above blackmail, so it was hardly a wonder she didn't trust him to keep their little secret from others.

As soon as it was obvious that Minelli was going to send Carmen over, Jane rushed back to Lisbon's apartment. He didn't want her to be alone with that psycho. Sure, he knew that she was more than capable of looking after herself and that if anything physical happened, he was usually more of a hindrance than a help, but that wasn't the point. To be fair, the only reason he really wanted to be there was moral support but he wasn't sure how accepting she'd be of that. Jane paused before knocking sharply on her door and jumped when he saw her, gun in one hand and whiskey bottle in the other. It didn't take him long to notice the expose skin either. Her oversized jersey drew all the attention to Lisbon's legs and he couldn't help but stare.

"Jane!" she squeaked, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Quietly, he slipped through her front door and slammed it shut behind him. He didn't want anybody else seeing her like this, least of all Roy Carmen, the lecherous bastard. Jane could already imagine him practically devouring her with his eyes and he found his hackles rising. Quite frankly, Jane just wanted to keep the view to himself. With a sigh, partially in frustration at not having an answer and partially because she just wanted the night over and done with, she placed her gun back down on her table only for Jane's arms to encircle her waist and hold her flush to his body, pinned between the table and himself.

"Jane? What are you doing?"

"Shh, Teresa."

She trembled slightly as his fingers danced across the bare skin of her neck, catching slightly on the neckline of her jersey. After a couple of seconds, he allowed her to turn and gently, he brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Staring into his eyes, she watched him carefully as tentatively, he leaned forwards. She jumped however and pushed him away from her immediately; a car had just pulled up outside and if she was in a betting mood, she was willing to bet it was Carmen. Lisbon had no idea what the hell he was up to, but he needed to go and hide. If the doctor spotted him, their cover would be blown and then they'd have no chance at leading him into the trap they'd set up.

***

A few hours later and Jane was damn proud of her. Lisbon had kept her cool, used clever words in order to let the shrink trap himself. And all of it recorded on the device she'd hidden in her knitting basket. It was already late, but she'd insisted on heading back into CBI, wanting to go and set her office back up immediately while Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt tied up a few details. Bosco was in there, talking genially with her and she was torn between feeling comfortable and on edge with the other senior agent. Somehow, without her gun and badge, she appeared smaller than usual, but Jane could tell that she was happy to be back.

She'd also be starving considering that he knew she hadn't eaten properly all day. That was why he was giving her the donut, just to keep her going. And also, it provided the ideal opportunity to interrupt Bosco. He had been meaning to talk to her about earlier, about what happened just before Carmen had arrived. Instead, he found himself bantering with her on reflex, as if they were both relieved that everything was 'back to normal'. Jane figured that she had probably just written it off already, putting it down to the stress of the situation and heightened emotions. Instead, he chose just to let her relax and enjoy the feeling of normality instead of shaking everything up again.

There was time for talking later and besides, he was the one who had to get his head straight now.

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **So this is based on 2x09 A Price Above Rubies. It's only the beginning of the episode, but it's all I'm doing for that episode. The next chapter should be the final chapter - and it won't be based on any episode. Hopefully I'll have that up soon. Well, I need to for it to count in the challenge.

Thanks to: mtm, Iloveplotbunnies, Charmed225, lisbon69, WildDaisies10, blondieland, anthropologist, yaba, Ebony10, lisbonloafers, Famous4it, Viktorija, phoenixmagic1 and Divinia Serit for reviewing part four.

And Shelly, you can stop pressing refresh now! Though you've just gone out with your dog... boo.

x tromana

* * *

_Who can explain the attraction?  
I wouldn't know where to begin  
__Love can be faltered or founded on the slightest thing  
__I can't explain the attraction  
__I don't know where to start  
__Love's a peculiar feeling, it's a question mark  
__-Love is a Question Mark_**, **Dianne Pilkington and Luke Evans (Taboo)

**Part Five**

The water was scalding hot, but she liked it that way. Each droplet of water felt like a sharp pin piercing her skin and it reminded her that she was still alive and still knew how to hurt. The CBI had suffered a lot of losses lately and she was still feeling them. It was hardly surprising though; Sam Bosco had always meant a lot to her and part of her felt guilty about his death. If only she'd noticed that Rebecca had been acting a little strange. If only they hadn't lost focus on the Red John case, so there was no need to drag him into the mix. If only he hadn't followed her to Sacramento, then he'd still be alive and probably still be being treated like a god in San Francisco. It was funny, but since his funeral, this was the first time she'd taken the opportunity to actually think about it. Perhaps it was because he was supposed to be her pseudo-date this evening, meaning she didn't have the embarrassment of having to find someone else or asking one of her team.

More likely because her thoughts had been so wrapped up with one of her team, however.

They hadn't actually talked about that moment when he'd almost kissed her. To be fair, it felt like an age ago now and bringing it up again now would be like delving into old wounds for the sake of it. They'd been too busy to discuss it anyway and Lisbon preferred it that way. When it came to relationships, she far preferred burying her head in the sand than facing the problem head on. Agent Lisbon was competent and could cope with any crap thrown in her direction. Teresa Lisbon the woman, however, was a very different story. She'd never been particularly good at personal stuff, mainly due to years of treating herself as second best and when it came to Jane, that was no different.

Lisbon was still fussing with the strap of shoes when Cho knocked roughly on her front door. She'd told him that she would be perfectly fine making her own way to the event, but he'd insisted upon escorting her. It wasn't a case of him being concerned about her attending on her own, he knew that she was more than capable, it was more of a case of it being the gentlemanly thing to do. And besides, it made little sense them driving there separately when they lived so close to one another. Though she wouldn't tell him, she appreciated the gesture more than she would let him know as it was painfully sweet and meant a lot to her. And it stopped Jane from offering to do the same and thus cut out the inevitable embarrassment of traveling with him. Sure, she was content to share a car with him on the job, but when dressed to the nines and trying to tell herself that she most certainly was not attracted to the egotistical jackass, it would have been somewhat more difficult.

"You look good, Boss."

Cho meant what he said and Lisbon nodded her thanks as she climbed into his car. She knew he wasn't trying to push the boundaries of their relationship and that was a blessed relief. At least one member of her unit was happy with his lot and was not lusting after another. Things were just getting far too complicated recently and that unsettled her. Still, it was time to put on a brave face and make the best of a bad job. Begging for charitable donations just seemed wrong, but they needed it now more than ever. There was time for worrying about team dynamics later.

***

Jane hadn't been particularly happy about being coerced into performing in front of that crowd of spoilt bastards, but as Lisbon had been the one to pretty much beg him to, he'd agreed. He smirked over at her before taking to the stage. If only she would beg him to do other, more salacious, things to her, especially when wearing that dress. Dismissing the thought, he continued with his 'act', knowing full well that she would be fuming when he joined her afterwards, but something about that very line of thought intrigued him. It had been a while since he'd explicitly shown an interest in a woman, not since Sophie Miller, but Lisbon remained convinced that he was still the womanizer she had first met. Part of him was desperate to prove to her that a leopard could change its spots.

The other part still wanted to seek vengeance for the woman who died because of his fallacy.

Finding the happy medium wasn't exactly an option. He couldn't have a relationship with Lisbon, if that was indeed what she wanted too and go out and murder a man. She held a moral standing which she would never compromise on that front and even if she did, he didn't know what was going to happen after, and it wasn't fair to put that kind of pressure on her. But this was the first time he'd seriously considered giving up on Red John for her though. Well, not giving up, but simply handing him over to her instead of the violent end he'd been preparing for years. As she saw at him, he smiled brightly and accepted the champagne. A life with Lisbon wouldn't be so bad. And everyone deserved a second chance, didn't they?It didn't help when later, at the Jeweler's, one of the brothers started hitting on Lisbon and she seemed faintly interested. Jealousy wasn't a pretty emotion and he wasn't quite sure where it came from, but it wasn't something he could control. He was relieved to get her on her own again after they'd finished scouring the scene of the crime, especially as it felt like she had been avoiding spending time alone with him of late. It might have had something to do with the brief sojourn in jail, but he hoped not. Besides, that was so long ago now and he had hoped she still wasn't holding it against him. Maybe it was because of before then, in her apartment, when they were so close to kissing?

Whatever, they needed to sort out the peculiar atmosphere that was haunting them.

***

The journey back to Lisbon's apartment was filled with tension and as she sat in the passenger seat, she found herself fiddling with her jacket. She hated feeling so unsure of her emotions, especially as Jane still seemed so focused on the Red John debacle. It didn't help that they had first met the night his family had died and therefore, she felt inexplicably linked to the grief he felt for their deaths. That was something that they would never be able to get over so even thinking they might have a chance was just a fool's dream. The blond kept glancing over at her, wishing that someone would just break the silence and it wasn't long until it started bothering her. She hated the feeling of being scrutinized, especially when she was wearing something she felt uncomfortable in. It was a blessed relief when her apartment complex came into view and almost as soon as he killed the engine, she climbed out of the vehicle.

"Thanks for driving me home, Jane."

"Uh, no problem."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Wait a minute."

She frowned and watched as he joined her on the sidewalk. He took a step closer to her and automatically, she stumbled backwards. While staring into her eyes, Jane caught her hand and Lisbon knew that she must have looked overwhelmingly confused, especially as the blond's expression seemed somewhat disconcerted by her obvious apprehension.

"I forget to tell you earlier, but you do look wonderful tonight, Teresa."

She blinked in response, slightly unsure how to respond. He had sounded far less sincere than Cho had a mere couple of hours earlier, but she hadn't known how to respond. Tired, emotionally drained and ready for bed was how she felt - certainly not wonderful. What happened next however came completely by surprise. Carefully, he raised a hand and cupped her cheek before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. He'd pulled away before she even had a chance to respond and looked incredibly embarrassed. Almost as quickly as he started, he let go and headed straight towards his Citroen.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Shaking, she finally fell through her front door and all but collapsed up against it. Just as she thought she had finally come to terms with the idea that they would never be together, he had to go and pull that on her. It wasn't fair. Why the hell did love have to be so complicated?

And she had another case to be working on and wouldn't have the time to comprehend what had just happened.

Life wasn't fair.

**TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Okay, so I didn't expect to write this chapter so soon, but I'm not complaining. At least it means I know this fic is completed in time for the challenge. Heh. Hopefully, I won't tie myself down with another multiparter next month so I can focus on getting more of Pretty Lies and Unbound done. I've neglected both of those fics terribly - I'm sorry.

Thanks to: WildDaisies10, Viktorija, boutondor, Ebony10, lisbon69, phoenixmagic1, yaba, Iloveplotbunnies, Divinia Serit, Famous4it, lil smiles and mtm for reviewing part five.

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH SUICIDE. If this is a sensitive subject for you, I advise you don't read.**

x tromana

* * *

_It's never enough  
__No matter how many times I've tried to tell you  
__This is love  
__If tomorrow never comes  
__I want you to know right now that I  
__I'm gonna love you until the day I die  
__And if tomorrow falls asleep  
__Can you hold me close?  
__I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on earth  
__-Last Night On Earth, _Delta Goodrem

**Part Six**

"Go on then."

Blue eyes leered at him expectantly, daring him to carry out the reckless promise he'd made years ago and Jane found himself having to swallow down fear. When it came to this moment that was one emotion he'd never expected himself to come across. He'd always thought he'd be confident, to know exactly what he was going to do and just get on with it. That he would probably land up dying and take Red John down with him. But things were… different. Though, yet again, they had completely ignored the fact that they had kissed, he and Lisbon were closer. More understanding of one another, more in sync. As the malicious serial killer took one step closer, then another, Jane realized that he wouldn't exchange that for anything.

Not even seeking revenge for killing the family he should have appreciated all those years ago.

His knife clattered to the floor and the sound of metal hitting concrete echoed around the warehouse. The sound appeared deafening, though Jane knew that was just his imagination playing tricks on him; there was no way that it could actually be as loud as it had appeared. Red John puffed out a sigh of exasperation as a van pulled up outside. Jane backed away as the man approached him, scooping the knife up from where it lay amongst the spiders and dust. Both men paused as they heard Lisbon bark orders at the rest of the team through paper-thin walls. They both knew that she'd be on the scene sooner or later; this was just far sooner than either of them had expected. Jane couldn't help it - for half a second the relief was apparent on his face. Of course, the murderer, who was astute at observation as Jane himself, noticed the change in the blond's expression.

"Ahh… the little spitfire has arrived," Red John remarked nonchalantly while allowing the knife blade to run across his own forearm. "You're soft on her. She was the one you spent the night with when I had the pleasure of meeting your wife and child, wasn't she?"

Jane, feeling like his throat had suddenly been stuffed with cotton wool, could only nod wordlessly in response. Of course Red John knew the connection. It seemed that the bastard had eyes and ears everywhere. It would take Lisbon and the team forever to work out all of his connections, all the people who could be responsible for aiding the criminal. Him too, if he got out of this alive. Jane didn't want to die, nor did he want to leave the team and especially the petite senior agent. He'd never dreamed of actually having a purpose and it was quite a novelty to have one. Life worked in mysterious ways; if he'd been told a decade ago that one of his one night stands would turn into someone he, well, loved, he'd have laughed in their face. Red John turned his back to Jane and after dipping fingers in the blood he'd already drawn from himself, proceeded to draw his trademark smiley face on the wall. Silently, he wondered just how many other people had observed the murderer as he drew the symbol. He had a shrinking feeling that he was the first and he wasn't quite sure what that meant. Eventually, Red John turned around and smiled slightly at Jane. It was nearly time.

"I'm surprised you don't blame _her_ for it rather than yourself," he continued, "after all, she made such a pretty little distraction."

"Don't you…"

The door suddenly swung open and Lisbon appeared, eyes blazing with fury and gun drawn. Both men paused to stare at her before Red John threw his head back, let out a hollow laugh and plunged the knife straight into his own arm, far deeper than the mere grazes he'd inflicted on himself before. He was never going to let Jane kill him, nor Lisbon take him in, denying them both the ending they required for the case. Everything was happening just as the serial killer had planned.

***

"Dammit, Jane, he's severed his artery," Lisbon hissed as she tried desperately to stem the flow of blood from Red John's arm. "Help me."

Jane stood, frozen to the spot as Lisbon desperately tried to stop the man from bleeding out. She hadn't expected Red John to commit suicide; in all honesty, she'd thought that the serial killer had a higher sense of self preservation than that. Then again, it was just like him. To dictate how he was going to die as well as how he lived. Still, she wasn't going to stop fighting to save his life, because she needed him to pay in a court of law. It wasn't until a strong pair of arms, Rigsby's, pulled her away from the pale, bloodied body that she stopped. In an unusual moment of comfort, Rigsby wrapped his arms tightly around his boss' waist and let her bury her head in his chest for a couple of seconds while she processed everything that had just happened. When Jane's hand tightened around her shoulder, she pulled away from Rigsby's shirt and they shared an embarrassed smile. Quietly, they left the room and Red John's body alone. The whole team had work to be getting on with - statements to be writing, paperwork to fill in and the like.

It took several hours to finish up everything, as expected. It didn't take long for the media to get wind that Red John was finally dead and therefore everybody wanted to know about the demise of one of California's most notorious criminals. Lisbon was relieved; it kept her busy, away from Jane and allowed her to focus on something she knew and understood. As she finally marked the case as closed on her whiteboard, she wasn't quite sure how to feel. They'd been dealing with Red John for years and finally it was over, except for a few details from the scant clues they'd found in the warehouse. They may not have been able to bring in Red John, though the fact that he was laying on some cold slab in a morgue was an acceptable compromise, but they might just be able to catch some of his associates. But still, by some unbelievable luck, they'd all managed to get through it unscathed. She spent several minutes just staring at her own handwriting and only jumped from her reverie when she heard her office door open and close once more. Not even bothering to turn around, she just murmured a quiet hello to Jane as he entered the room.

"Hi," Jane muttered in response, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.

"If you're resigning now, just leave the paperwork on my desk. I'll finish it for you in the morning."

Lisbon sounded sullen but she couldn't help it. Jane had made it rather clear when he'd first been attached to her team that the main reason he'd joined at all was to apprehend Red John. There was no reason for him to continue now that the murderer had killed himself.

"I'm not leaving."

"Pardon?"

"You heard me."

She turned around and looked him up and down, waiting to find out the catch. When he appeared entirely genuine, she approached him, wiping her sweaty palms across her pants. Swallowing deeply, she hoped that nerves wouldn't get the better of her. Their reunion had always been rather like a tennis match, trying to score points off one another one way or another. Lisbon still had an ace up her sleeve and she hoped that it wouldn't scare the blond away. That it wasn't too soon to be pulling such a move.

"I don't want to leave _you_."

After he uttered those six words, Lisbon felt renewed confidence. As she attempted to swallow away the nerves, she closed the gap between herself and Jane. Staring him directly in the eyes, she rolled onto her tiptoes before placing her hands on his cheeks and covering his lips with her own. Though her actions had taken him completely by surprise, Jane wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss, delighting in the way that she moaned in response to him turning the tables on her. Eventually, she broke it off and looked at him defiantly, daring him to question her actions.

"Where do we go from here?"

***

Lisbon was a surprisingly deep sleeper. He'd forgotten that, but then again he'd forgotten a fair bit about her in this kind of position. He'd thought it would be one he'd never see again, but he was grateful for the reminder. Silently, Jane hoped that he would have regular refresher sessions and appreciated the second chance. He smiled to himself as she hardly responded to his touch, the fingers that he lazily allowed to trail across her bare flesh. Gently, he placed a kiss to her nose before allowing his head to flop back down bonelessly onto the pillow. Sleep was unlikely to come, but he felt relaxed, laying by Lisbon's sleeping form and that was better than tossing and turning elsewhere.

She'd suggested taking it slow and yet, they'd fallen into bed with one another within hours. So much for that then. Still, he could hardly complain. At least they hadn't thrown up barriers instead, at least they'd let each other into their lives again willingly. He couldn't be sure whether or not they'd last the distance, but he had certainly learned his lesson the hard way. Silently, he vowed to treat her with the respect she deserved instead of subjecting her to the ways he'd treated his wife. She deserved that, at the very least.

After all, he'd thought their song was over before it even had a chance to start.

Oh how wrong he was.

end


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